


Escaped!

by Fire_Bear



Series: Pets-R-Us [3]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Awkwardness, Crushes, Escape, Instant Attraction, M/M, Pets, Requited Crush, boy next door, hamster - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 15:42:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4751873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Bear/pseuds/Fire_Bear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alfred's hamster goes missing so he asks his next door neighbours to keep an eye out for her - and meets someone he wasn't expecting...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Escaped!

**Author's Note:**

> That is a really awful summary. And it's only a T because Arthur says one bad word. Dammit, Arthur.

It wasn't as though Alfred went out of his way to avoid the Kirklands. In fact, ever since they had moved in next door, he had spoken to the youngest child, Peter, several times and had even kicked a soccer ball around with him. The ageing parents had said hi to him several times, mostly in passing as they left to do whatever they did all day. All of the oldest siblings were at colleges or universities around the world and so he knew it was unlikely he would meet them until the Christmas holidays.

But he had still to meet the second youngest who was only a year younger than Alfred, not to mention a friend of Alfred's little brother, Matthew. Somehow, he would just miss Arthur Kirkland leaving or would be too busy to come to the door when he heard Matthew dragging someone to his room. Sometimes, he would be out with his friends, laughing and making mischief, when Arthur and his parents would be over for dinner or vice versa. He had long since decided that the universe simply wanted to keep them apart.

All of his knowledge of the sixteen year-old Kirkland was second-hand. According to Mr. and Mrs. Kirkland, Arthur was a serious, gentle young man who was getting top marks at school. Peter, meanwhile, called him a jerk and mentioned that he was conniving and ruthless when it came to revenge for pranks. However, he had also let slip that his brother took him to his clubs at the weekend and picked him up again. Matthew and Matthew's other friend, Kiku, both said that he was polite, clever, helpful and fun. He'd also been told that he had big eyebrows and had green highlights. From conversations he had walked into, he had gleaned that Arthur could sing, play the guitar, could make costumes and knew more about plants and the occult than anyone else he knew – and that included that Romanian kid everyone tended to avoid.

In all honesty, that was probably all Alfred would ever have known about Arthur if it hadn't been for Lois the hamster disappearing.

Lois was Alfred's personal pet and he was responsible for looking after her. His parents had decided it would do Matthew and Alfred good to have something to care for instead of cooping themselves up in their rooms or rushing off to friends' houses. So Alfred had gotten a hamster whilst Matthew had insisted on a guinea pig.

On this particular day, Alfred had taken Lois downstairs to the hamster maze he had made: it was too big to fit into his room so, on occasion, he would take over the living room. After carefully placing her into the labyrinth, Alfred had proceeded to clean out her cage. He removed all of the little toys, her bowl of food and her water bottle before pushing the dirtied sawdust into a bin bag. After giving the cage a thorough wash, he put down clean sawdust and replaced her wheel. He filled up her food bowl and fetched her clean water before putting everything back together. Then he went to watch her run around.

Only, when Alfred knelt down beside the maze, he noticed that one of the walls which had been a little loose and he had been meaning to fix at some point was now flat. Eyes wide, Alfred scanned the maze and, unable to see his little Syrian hamster, he jumped to his feet and spun around, scanning the floor. "Lois!" he called, despite the fact he knew she wasn't trained to respond.

Frantic, Alfred dropped to his knees and pushed the maze aside so he could lie on the floor. Once down, he peered under the couch. Nothing moved. Army crawling to one of the armchairs, he peered under that. Nothing. Getting worried, he got up and began to move things around, calling on Lois every so often.

By the time his parents and Matthew had returned, the living room and kitchen were a mess. Alfred stood in the middle of it, wringing his hands as the three of them surveyed it. "What on Earth happened?" cried his mother, wide-eyed.

"I can't find Lois!" Alfred wailed, tears in his eyes.

"What?" his dad said, frowning at him.

"The maze broke and she got out and I looked everywhere and she's _gone_!"

"Did you leave the back door open?" Matthew asked, taking control as he usually did when Alfred did something stupid.

"No. Both of them were shut."

"Hamsters are good at getting through small holes," Mr. Jones pointed out. "She might have gotten out that way."

"Oh, no! What if she's been eaten by a cat?!"

Mrs. Jones sighed. "I'm sure she'll be fine, Al. Hamsters are resourceful."

"Why don't you ask next door if they can look out for her?" asked Matthew, staring at the mess as if planning how he was going to tidy up. "She could get through our walls and then theirs, since we're in a townhouse."

"Huh," said Alfred, staring at the ceiling. "Yeah. That sounds like a plan. I'll go do that now!" With that, he hurried to the door, tugged on his sneakers, and wobbled out.

"Yeah, I'll just tidy up after you!" Matthew called after him, sarcasm evident.

Ignoring him, Alfred headed, by habit, to old Mrs. Crighton's house. He rung the doorbell and she was quick to answer, despite her arthritis. Once he had explained the situation and had a look around her downstairs rooms, he thanked her and asked her to keep an eye out. She stopped him before she left and gave him a cookie, something he was eager to have so he thanked her profusely before leaving.

He made his way to the Kirklands, thinking he would be answered by Peter or the parents. However, when he rung the doorbell, it was eventually opened a slither and a shadow stared out. Startled, Alfred's eyes widened and he took a step back. "Yes?" asked the shadow, sounding suspicious.

"Uh, hey. I'm Alfred Jones from next door. I came here about my hamster."

"Jones? You're Matthew's brother?" The voice had a crisp, English accent which reminded Alfred of all the English actors he found hot.

"Yeah. You Arthur?"

"Yes. What was that about your hamster?"

Alfred eyed the shadow, curious as to why Arthur was hiding. "Could ya open the door first? I feel kinda awkward talking to you like this."

"Ah!" cried the shadowy Arthur. "I'm sorry. Of course."

With that, he opened the door, revealing himself. Alfred stared, his mouth opening in surprise. Matthew had been right about the highlights: the tips of Arthur's hair were a bright green which caught his attention and contrasted with the straw-like, blond hair. It was short and messy, strands sticking out at odd angles and Alfred marvelled at the way the highlights made his eyes pop. They were a brilliant green which seemed to glitter like a jewel. Alfred almost fell into them, starting to shift forward, when he spotted what Arthur was _wearing_. The black, skinny jeans were tight and curved around his long legs. He was bare foot, too, his toes wriggling when Alfred glanced down. However, the thing which bothered Alfred the most was his AC/DC t-shirt. It was too big for him, perhaps a hand-me-down, but was being held up by a metal belt, looped tightly around his stomach. That did not stop it from slipping off a shoulder, revealing Arthur's pale skin and collarbone.

The older boy had to take a deep breath in an effort not to let the heat he felt rising go north _or_ south. Which was a surprise because Alfred hadn't even considered that this sort of look on a guy could be that sexy. In fact, no-one younger than Alfred was _supposed_ to be sexy! They were all still kids - even if they _were_ sixteen years old...

"Um...?" said Arthur, hesitantly, and Alfred raised his gaze to his. He could see a pink tinge on Arthur's cheeks.

"Oh, um... Sorry. I just. Uh. AC/DC, huh?"

"Mm," Arthur replied, still sounding wary. "Um. Your hamster?"

"Oh!" shouted Alfred, making Arthur jump and his t-shirt slip further. "Oh, yeah. Right. Listen. My hamster escaped and Mattie said she might get through here? Can I have a look 'round and see if I can see her. And, if I don't, could you keep an eye out for her?"

"Ah." Arthur paused, glancing along the hall. "Yeah, all right. Downstairs or upstairs?"

"Just downstairs'll do."

"Right. Come on in." Arthur moved aside and Alfred hurried in, pausing to slip off his shoes. "I'll just let Peter know what's happening. He's in his room so I'll be back in a minute."

"Cool. I'll start looking."

As Arthur hurried off, running up the wooden stairs, Alfred moved along the narrow hall. He paused as he noticed the framed photos which had been hung in a staggered formation. It showed the growth of the Kirkland family. Alfred stared as red-heads and mousy-haired kids grew before him. As Arthur appeared and grew, the two boys closest in age seemed to get into a lot of fights. Then Peter appeared and the family was complete. A last picture showed the entire family, straight-backed and smiling.

"Have you found her?" asked a voice and Alfred startled. Spinning, he found that Arthur was back, blinking at him.

"Oh, uh, no. Sorry. I got distracted." He nodded at the pictures and Arthur hummed his acknowledgement. "Where's Peter?"

"He insisted on looking for her upstairs and on his own," Arthur replied, shrugging. "I told him he'd be more likely to find her down here but..." He shrugged again and the t-shirt slipped some more. Alfred's eyes flickered to it just as Arthur reached up to fix it. The relieved older boy managed to breath again.

"Well, all right. Let's get to it, huh?"

"Mmhmm," said Arthur. He slipped past Alfred and led him to the living room. "There's this room, the kitchen, the closet we turned into a toilet and a spare room. The spare room's full of junk we don't use so I think we both should look there after we've looked in these rooms. I'll go look in the kitchen."

"Cool," said Alfred, watching Arthur leave.

Turning his attention to the room, Alfred marvelled at the amount of books the family owned. There were five book cases and only one housed DVDs and video games. The books were a mixture of new, shiny novels and old, beautifully crafted volumes. Behind the door was a couple of cabinets with glass doors inside which were housed several ornaments and trinkets. Alfred spotted several fairies and unicorns. The couches and chairs were supplied with plenty of cushions and throws and the glass coffee table was clean and shining. Their TV was large and an assortment of DVD players and games consoles were tucked away in the cabinet below the stand, visible through the glass doors.

Getting to work, Alfred crawled around on his hands and knees but found nothing. He even made sure to look behind the TV, untangling the cables as he did so. Finding none nibbled on, he gave up and went to look for Arthur.

He was just stepping through the door, staring at a small Japanese tapestry of some sort, when he bumped into something. Gasping, he looked around and found Arthur staggering back a little looking rather surprised. He grabbed Arthur's arm to steady him. Once he had ceased moving, Arthur quickly removed his arm, staring at a point on the floor with a slight blush. Alfred raised an eyebrow.

"Well?" Arthur asked.

"Nope. Nothing."

"I didn't find her, either," Arthur told him. "Come on."

Leading him back down the hall, Arthur took him to a door that had been hidden by the front door. Opening it, Arthur searched for the light switch and showed Alfred into a dull room which was filled with boxes. They even covered a wire bed which had no mattress and was obviously intended for an influx of visitors. The curtains were drawn and the heavy material effectively kept out the afternoon sun.

"Sorry about the mess," said Arthur. "Mum and Dad didn't want to throw away any of my brothers' stuff." He frowned at a box and prodded at it.

"Mom likes keeping all our 'achievements', too."

Arthur nodded as he moved further in, the shirt slip off his shoulder again. "I wouldn't mind too much but where are they going to put all this when we get visitors?"

"No idea..."

Grimacing, Arthur wound his way through the boxes. "Be careful. Some of these piles probably have fragile things in them." Finishing his tale, Arthur bent over to move a box, giving Alfred a view of his ass.

Alfred swallowed and reminded himself that, not only was he a year younger, he was also Mattie's friend and was therefore _off limits_.

Arthur straightened up and dropped the box onto the bed; it bounced as it hit the springs before it settled. "Right," he said, turning to Alfred with his hands on his hips. "I think there's enough room now to check under the bed, if you want to do that. I'm going to check the edges of the room without knocking any of these boxes over – hopefully."

"Sure thing!" said Alfred, hurriedly. He strode to where Arthur stood and waited till he had gotten out of the way before dropping to the floor. Wriggling under the bed, he scanned the space, discovering a few smaller boxes hidden there. As he began to shift them around, he heard Arthur speaking and paused. "Sorry, what was that?"

"I asked you what your hamster's called."

"Oh! I named her Lois."

He heard a snort. "Lois? Really?" It sounded as though Arthur was amused.

"And what would _you_ call a hamster?"

"Well, if she was a girl, Jane. For a boy, I'd name him Will. Though, the last time I had a hamster, I called him Shakes."

"Shakes? Why Shakes?"

There was a pause. "Well... It was short for Shakespeare."

Alfred laughed and then coughed from the dust. "All right. I don't think she's here," he croaked, coughing again.

"Are you okay?" asked Arthur.

"Yeah."

"Right. Well, I can't see any animals in here, either, besides dead spiders and flies."

"Oh." Alfred took a deep breath and coughed a little, staying under the bed as he thought. "I think I'll just have to wait and see if she turns up..."

"Looks like it," Arthur agreed, moving closer. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Maple tea?"

"If you'd like."

"Sweet!" Alfred paused before trying to twist around and realising that his lanky frame was, quite literally, boxed in. He had moved some of the boxes from under the bed out to his side and behind him and now he couldn't move out from under it. After trying to reorganise them, he remembered he was extremely bad at Textris and had only succeeded in surrounding himself with the boxes. There were boxes to the side of the bed which wouldn't move further outwards; there were boxes at his hips which wobbled when he tried to shift them; there were boxes at his feet which he felt when they brushed them as he moved. If he moved any further back, he'd kick them over. He couldn't move left or right and twisting around had shown him that he couldn't turn to crawl out. "Uh... Little help?"

Another pause. "Um. Yeah. Okay. Um. If you bend your legs I can pull you out so far and then you can swivel 'round?"

"Sounds like a plan." Alfred obediently did as he was told, his jeans falling down – or was it up? - his legs. He awaited what felt like quite some time till he got impatient. "Dude?" he said, frowning at a box full of chains that he had decided were Halloween decorations for sanity's sake.

"Oh! Sorry. I was just... Never mind." Hands grasped Alfred's legs and pulled, Alfred wincing as he was dragged backwards and his shirt rolled up. He hoped he wouldn't get carpet burn. The hands disappeared and Alfred found himself pouting. "There," said Arthur. "I think that's far enough."

"Cool." Alfred pushed himself around and, once his upper body was free from the bed, he pushed himself up into a kneeling position. He sorted himself out, tugging his shirt down before he stood and wriggled his legs to get the jeans to behave. "Awesome," he muttered to himself once he was ready. At that point, he glanced up and found Arthur watching him with a rather red face. He blinked at Arthur. "Uh-"

"Come on!" cried Arthur, quickly. "I'll go make you tea and, uh, do you like scones?"

"I dunno. Maybe. Wha-?"

"Arthur!" cried a voice and they turned to see Peter at the door, pouting at them. "I couldn't find the hamster."

"Oh," said Arthur, blinking at him. "Well, neither did we but we'll keep an eye out for her."

"Okay," said the boy. Then he tilted his head. "Should you really be in here? Mum and Dad won't be happy you're messing with their stuff."

"Most of it's our brothers', anyway," Arthur told him as he ushered Alfred to the door. "Besides, they don't need to know, do they?"

"Hm. What do I get?"

Growling, Arthur turned to him. "You can get the last of the ice cream if you take it and bugger off to your room."

"Yay!" cried Peter and rushed towards the kitchen.

"Is that a good idea?" asked Alfred as they followed at a more sedate pace.

"We actually ate most of it last night. There's not much left," Arthur replied.

They went into the kitchen which was large and shining. A long dining table had been placed off to the side with six chairs crowded around it. Tucked into a corner was a pumpkin, presumably waiting to be carved. Peter was in the process of shutting a drawer as they entered and he rushed by with a tub of Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough ice cream and a large spoon. Arthur shrugged and moved over to the unit, grabbing an electric kettle and filled it up.

"Didja bring that over from England with ya?" Alfred asked, seating himself at the table and watching Arthur expertly darting around to set everything up.

"Mmhmm. Mum and Dad had heard that you don't get them over here so we packed it and sent it over."

"Can't you get them online?"

"It's really expensive."

"Ah."

Arthur set down some cups and a plate with scones on it. He also provided milk, sugar, margarine and two different jellies. Then he returned to the unit where he poured the boiled water into a teapot and set it down. Alfred reached for it but Arthur grabbed his wrist: Alfred froze, gaping at the boy.

"No. You need to leave it to brew, you know."

"Oh," said Alfred, slowly drawing his hand back.

They sat in silence for a little while. Alfred searched for something to say. Everything he came up with had something to with Arthur's appearance, though, so he kept his thoughts to himself. Arthur shifted in his chair, staring at the teapot. Alfred bit his lip, trying to stop his thoughts from straying. Arthur licked his lips and Alfred had to take a deep breath through his nose to stop himself from gasping in delight.

"I think," said Arthur, quietly, "it's ready now." With that, he picked up the pot and poured some into each of their cups.

"Thanks," said Alfred, adding several spoonfuls of sugar into his cup. Taking a sip, he figured it would do and set it back down on its saucer to reach for a scone.

"My mum made them."

"Ah, cool. Home-made stuff is the best."

"Mmhmm."

Silence descended as Alfred concentrated on spreading the condiments onto his scone. Arthur sipped his tea, watching him. Feeling a little self-conscious, Alfred finished his task and quickly took a bite. He'd never had a scone before but they were actually pretty nice and the filling made it sweeter. Licking his lips, he nodded in approval but didn't dare open his mouth.

"So, um," said Arthur, fiddling with his cup. "You're graduating soon, huh?"

"Urgh. Don't remind me," groaned Alfred once he'd swallowed.

"Sorry. I was just wondering what it was you were going to do. Matt says he wants to work with animals."

"Yeah, he always has. I dunno what I want to do. I figured I'd just take a loada classes in college and then work out my major when I'm there."

"Oh."

"What about you?"

Arthur shrugged, that damned t-shirt slipping off his shoulder more; Alfred's eyes flickered to it before he forced his gaze down to his scone. "Not decided yet. Maybe something with English or maybe History."

"Sounds pretty cool," said Alfred, smiling encouragingly at him.

"Thanks." Arthur sent Alfred a small smile that sent Alfred's heart aflutter. "Though, I don't want to be a teacher, that's for sure."

"Ah."

More silence. Arthur took a sip of his tea. Alfred finished off his scone and reached for another, trying to think of _anything_ interesting to talk about. It occurred to him that it usually wasn't this difficult to talk to new people. Then again, he reasoned with himself, he wasn't sure he had ever met anyone this attractive.

He caught sight of the pumpkin as he glanced around the kitchen. "Oh!" he said, latching onto a new topic of conversation. "Are you doing anything for Halloween?"

Blinking up at him, Arthur nodded. "I'm going to Gilbert's party with Kiku and Matt. We're doing a sort of group thing."

"Oh? Mattie hasn't said anything. What're you doing?"

"You'll find out at the weekend. You're going to it too, after all. Right?"

"Right!" Alfred paused, frowning down at his tea. "Gilbert invited you?"

"No. Ludwig wanted Feliciano to come but he knew Lovino would be extra protective. So he asked us three to come along with Lovi. Since Antonio will be there, Lovi decided he'd come, too, since he's- Actually. That's a secret. Never mind."

"What's a secret?" asked Alfred, grinning. "That Lovi and Tonio are both totally in love but neither of them are ever gonna make a move?"

"So it's really _not_ a secret? I was worried I was being too perceptive." Arthur chuckled to himself.

At that moment, the sound of the front door opening interrupted them. They both blinked and looked around. The distant voices of Arthur's parents filtered through the house. Alfred looked back to Arthur who pointed at a clock: apparently he had been in Arthur's house for almost an hour.

"Oh, I'd better get going!" said Alfred, getting up. "Mattie'll kill me if he's left to tidy up after me."

"Hm?" asked Arthur, standing as well and quickly putting away the snacks.

"I kinda took the house apart looking for Lois..."

Arthur laughed. "He's probably finished by now. You'd better get going."

"Yeah." They stared at each other for a moment. Then, snapping out of his reverie, Alfred grinned and waved. "Haha, see ya!" Hurrying off, he barely caught the farewell from Arthur.

* * *

Alfred was just fixing the final touches to his costume when the doorbell rang for a second time. He froze, his mind racing. Since Kiku (dressed as a pirate) had already arrived and was helping Matthew with his costume in his room, that would mean that the person at the door was Arthur.

It had been a few days since he had properly met the Brit and he couldn't get him out of his head. Embarrassingly, Alfred had even been daydreaming about him during classes. Every time he reminded himself that he was _Matthew's_ friend, he found it wasn't helping. It was weird: he still thought of Matthew as the kid who needed him to stand up for him during recess but he didn't see Arthur in that light. He was frustrated with himself and confused over his feelings – not that he didn't already know he was bisexual but was this just lust and hormones or something else? Whatever it was, Alfred knew Matthew would be annoyed if he essentially 'stole' his friend.

But, now that he was aware who it was, he desperately wanted to run to the door, throw it open, and draw the boy into a hug. He resisted and heard two pairs of feet hurrying downstairs. Distantly, he heard the door open and voices. Alfred busied himself with his belt and wondered when it would be acceptable to go out to meet him.

However, Alfred didn't need to go out to the door as Arthur, Matthew and Kiku came to him. Entering the living room, Kiku nodded to him and Matthew... was a ninja. Alfred stared, unsure as to what their theme was. Wasn't it Pirates of the Caribbean or something? "Hey," said Matthew, moving aside so Arthur could enter. "Arthur has something for you."

And in walked Arthur. For some reason, when Matthew had mentioned his name, Alfred had guiltily looked down. Now, he slowly raised his gaze, taking in what Arthur was wearing bit by bit. Firstly, he wore a pair of brown cowboy boots, complete with spurs – Alfred didn't know how he hadn't heard his approach. Then he noticed the chaps which obscured his pants from Alfred's view. A belt was looped around his waist, one side hanging low as the other clung to his hip. What appeared to be a fake pistol was holstered there. Arthur's shirt was an ill-fitting white thing, made from what looked to be cotton, with a brown vest which was a better fit and was keeping the shirt in place. An old, grey coat was over the top of that. Around his neck, covering it efficiently, was a green bandanna. Lastly, his hair was covered by a small, brown cowboy hat, spikes of green visible from beneath it.

"Howdy," said Arthur with a grin.

Alfred almost melted and had to reign himself in. "Y-Yo..."

"I've found something of yours." Arthur held out a box that Alfred hadn't noticed he was clutching. There were holes in it and he frowned. What could Arthur have found that was his?

Cautiously taking it, Alfred lifted the lid and peered in. Gasping, he looked up at a smiling Arthur. "You found her?!" he cried before returning his attention to Lois, running around inside.

"My mum did, actually. She was in our bath. Seeing as it's been a while, we took her to the vet, just in case she's been nibbling on wires she shouldn't have been. But she got the all clear so I brought her here."

"Oh, my God! You didn't need to do that! Thank you so much!"

"Not a problem," said Arthur, his smile widening as he blushed at the praise.

"Dude, you gotta come put her into her cage with me!"

"I- What, really?" Arthur asked, blinking in surprise.

"Yeah! You should see her returned home like a noble... well. Cowboy..."

"Well," said Matthew, coughing to catch their attention. Alfred stared at his feet in embarrassment. "I'm going to make sure I have everything and then me and Kiku will wait for you two in the car."

"Sure thing, Mattie!"

They went their separate ways. Arthur and Alfred didn't speak as they traipsed up the stairs to Alfred's room. Once there, Alfred strode straight to the cage and opened the lid. He paused when he noticed Arthur was hovering near the door. Laughing slightly, he gestured for Arthur to move over. Slowly, gingerly, Arthur stepped over till they were side-by-side.

"Wanna put her in?"

"I, uh... All right." Arthur turned to face Alfred and, gently, carefully scooped Lois up. The hamster snuffled at his hands but didn't bite which Alfred felt relieved for. He didn't want to have to bandage the poor guy up. Awkwardly shifting, Arthur finally manoeuvred his hands into the cage and let Lois go. She instantly rushed towards her wheel and began to run on it. Raising his eyebrows, Arthur removed his hands and Alfred made sure to close and lock the door.

"Thanks again for bringing her home," Alfred whispered.

"It's not a problem, honestly," murmured Arthur. There was a short pause. "Why are we whispering?"

"Oh, ha!" cried Alfred, returning to his normal volume. He stepped back and away from Arthur. "No reason!"

"I see," said Arthur, looking him up and down. "Shall we get going, then, Captain Reynolds?"

"Oh, my God," Alfred breathed, staring at Arthur with wide eyes. "Did you just-? You've seen Firefly?"

"Of course. Are you going as a group or...?"

"Group." Alfred grinned at him. "Tonio's gonna be Wash and Lovi was talked into being Zoe. Gilbert's Jayne. We don't have a Simon, River or Kaylee. Oh. Or a Shepherd Book."

"What about Inara?"

"Francis."

Arthur wrinkled his nose. "Really? Did you want _him_ to be Inara?"

It seemed like the question had come out without Arthur meaning to, for his eyes widened and his cheeks reddened again. Alfred could practically see the insinuation and his own eyes grew in horror and he frantically waved his hands and shook his head. "No way! He just decided that! I'd much rather have y-you-" Alfred froze as he realised just what his mouth had divulged.

They stared at each other, both of them blushing deeper as time wore on. Then, slowly, Arthur opened his mouth. A strange, garbled noise came out and he quickly closed it. He swallowed, Alfred watching intently. Once Arthur had taken a deep breath, he suddenly blurted out: "I'd have been Inara, if you'd asked."

The staring continued.

"What?" said Alfred, eventually, once he had recovered from the shock.

"I... uh... The day we moved in, I saw you. From the window. And I... well..." The blush on Arthur's cheeks slowly began to make its way to his ears and it didn't take long for Alfred to figure out what Arthur was hinting at.

"Really...?" he asked, slowly, his mouth curving up into a smirk. If Arthur liked him back, then his feelings wouldn't be rebuffed and Matthew wouldn't be annoyed at him driving away a friend – Alfred was rather elated. After all, lots of couples had a year or two gap in age, right? His feelings weren't wrong and he may as well act on them before he graduated.

"Are you making fun of me?" Arthur demanded, obviously observing his grin.

"Nah. I'm just glad that I'm the sexy 'boy next door'," he told Arthur, winking at him. "I was convinced it was you."

"Huh?" said Arthur, intelligently.

Taking pity on him, Alfred stepped towards him. "Look, I'm not sure what Mattie will think about the two of us, but why don't we go to this place I know tomorrow? It does Halloween themed teas and coffees – and cakes, of course. We can go for lunch, right? Sound good?"

"Y-Yes...?" said Arthur, drawing the word out, looking confused at the sudden turn of events.

"Cool. Well, I'll tell the others you needed to go to the bathroom and I'll see you down there. We'd better not keep Mattie waiting or he'll flip."

"Huh?"

Alfred laughed. "You're bright red. Cool off and come down, 'kay?" And, with that, he leaned down and gave Arthur a quick peck to the cheek. Then, so Arthur wouldn't see how red _he_ was after that, he turned and hurried to the door. Pausing, he glanced back and grinned, giving Arthur a quick salute. "Hurry down, cowboy," he drawled and left the shell-shocked Arthur to recover.

**Author's Note:**

> I chose a Syrian hamster because there are only really five different hamsters commonly kept as pets: two of them are Russian, one's Chinese and one is Roborovski which not only sounds Russian but is too small for my/Alfred's tastes. (Also, it's sometimes called a Teddy Bear Hamster - how could I pass that up?)
> 
> The theme for Arthur, Matthew and Kiku's costumes was... well. You know how people argue what's cooler, a pirate or a cowboy and then ninjas get thrown in? It was that, except Arthur admitted to having been a pirate the year before, they decided Kiku being the ninja was a bit racist and Matthew really wanted to be like Naruto. (Even though he's not dressed like him because the others wouldn't let him. He pouted a lot but they didn't let up.)
> 
> Alfred's group one was because I almost had him be Starlord and then remembered how close that costume would be to Mal and decided it would be more hilarious for Francis to be Inara. Though, I suppose they coulda been the Guardians of the Galaxy - I think they might've had enough people for that... Eh. Firefly, man.
> 
> Speaking of costumes, I decided Arthur was one of those people who need everything to be historically accurate in films, TV, anything. So he's made sure the clothes are second-hand (and, unfortunately, too big), got the boots tailored, learnt how to use a bandanna for all the things [cowboys](http://wildwesthistory.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/properly-dressed-cowboy.html) used it for, etc.
> 
> Additionally... A lot of this stuff happened in real life. For instance:  
> Our hamster once escaped for a while in the house and nibbled on wires. We caught it pretty quick.  
> My dad made a maze for our hamsters - can't remember what happened to it.  
> My friends lived across the road from us and next door to each other - one of them lost their hamster and, I think it was the next day, it ended up in their bath. (I'm not sure how long hamsters would survive for when let loose in a house but this one is almost Superman so it's all cool.)
> 
> (Last thing: Arthur's t-shirt was actually his brother's which he found folded up amongst his clothes and decided just to keep and where on days he wouldn't be seeing anyone important... And then Alfred, his crush, turns up...  
> Oh! And Arthur was being cautious with the door because he's seen things on TV about home invasions and you can never be too careful...)


End file.
